The current work is focusing on the implementation of a robust watermarking algorithm for digital images, which is based on an innovative spread spectrum analysis algorithm for watermark embedding and on a content-based image retrieval technique for
watermark detection. The highly robust watermark algorithms are applying detectable watermarks for which a detection mechanism checks if the watermark exists or no (a Boolean decision) based on a watermarking key. The problem is that the detection of a watermark in a digital image library containing thousands of images means that the watermark detection algorithm is necessary to apply all the keys to the digital images. This application is non-efficient for very large image databases. On the other hand readable watermarks may prove weaker but easier to detect as only the detection mechanism is required. The proposed watermarking algorithm combines the advantages of both detectable and readable watermarks. The result is a fast and robust watermarking algorithm.
